Plant life & Adaptations

A section of the rain forest may contain over 700 species of trees and more than 1000 species of flowering plants! Plants in the rainforest have many adaptations that help them survive the climate. For example, since the rainforest gets so much precipitation, many of the plants have adaptations that help them shed water off their leaves as quickly as possible, including drip tips in the leaves and oily coatings to repel the water. Plants in the dark understory also need to be able to absorb as much sunlight as they possible can, so the leaves are rather large. Leaf stalks that turn with the movement of the sun is an adaptation that some trees have that assists them in capturing as much sunlight as possible. Many trees have stilt roots for extra support in the wet soil of the rain forest.

Animal life & Adaptations

The tropical rain forest is full of unique animals! Some native species of the tropical rainforest biome include monkeys, birds, snakes, frogs, and lizards. Some adaptations include birds such as parrots and toucans developing big, strong beaks to open the tough shells of nuts in the forest. Many animals are able to camouflage to avoid predators. Some animals are even poisonous and use bright colors to warn predators to leave them alone, such as the poison arrow frogs.

Competition & Cooperation

There is a lot of competition between species in the rainforest, but there's also a lot of cooperation! For example, some trees depend on animals to spread their seeds of their fruit to far away parts of the forest. Birds and mammals eat the fruits, and travel some distance before the seeds pass through their digestive systems in another part of the forest. An example of competition would be animals have to compete for food in the forest. Several species of monkeys compete for fruit, as do species of birds.